Broken Hearts
by Kushinada Uzumaki
Summary: AU; Fem!Naru: Over Three Thousand years after her death, Uzumaki Miyuki finds herself in the middle of another adventure. While helping to change the tide of a war against Aizen, she finds something she's been looking for in an Orange haired, Substitute Shinigami; a reason to fight and protect once again.
1. Queen of Hueco Mundo

**Broken Hearts.**

**Chapter 1: Queen of ****Hueco Mundo****. **

Time moved forward in an odd way after death.

At least for her, she couldn't say how anyone else reacted to the afterlife. She'd taken it in stride, though at the time she'd felt overwhelmed. It was still easy to remember the day she died, and how within the hour a chain, which had come from her chest, eroded painfully.

Her friends at the time were alive, well most of them, and that had allowed her to handle the mind numbing pain of hollowfying. She was pretty sure by now that one reason her chain of fate had eroded so quickly, when it usually took souls weeks if not years before they became Hollows and lost their hearts and usually their minds, was because she'd been a jinchūriki.

Her existence before she joined Team Seven was filled with darkness, loneliness, hate, bitterness, rage, any combination of negative emotions one could think up. In other words it had been hollow.

Once she'd become a Hollow she'd stayed in the living world for a few months, just to make sure everything was alright and then she'd left to her new home – which she'd seemed to instinctively know how to access, among other things – Hueco Mundo.

It kind of reminded her of Suna, or the Land of Wind in general, but everything was white and their was an endless moon and night. That was fine with her, nighttime was always her favorite time, but it was while there she realized the majority of Hollows were beast. They had no stable minds of their own, hell the majority weren't even humanoid like herself. Most seemed to form masked animals as large as Kyuubi – if not a bit smaller compared, definitely weaker.

After what seemed like a month – there was no real way of telling time in Hueco Mundo, she found – she had been getting accustomed to how Hollowfication worked. Most souls started out as simply Hollows, which were large and driven by instinct more than any other it seemed to her. The more souls they devoured, the more power they gained and eventually they evolved to the next level.

There were a fair amount of Vasto Lordes, but very few Arrancar, which were the highest evolution. In this form one gained their mind back, in most instances, and for lack of better term, some of their humanity. They could suppress the Hollow instincts better than any other evolution.

She had skipped this evolving all together, and she was sure it had to do with both the immense Chakra she'd had in life and Kurama.

As it was, it was easy to tell how her mask fragment came to be. She'd only seen the full version once or twice while in the living world, before she'd came to Hueco Mundo, since she'd spent very little time as a Vasto Lorde herself (Vasto Lorde being the evolution she'd skipped to upon becoming a Hollow). It was a very sinister fox, grinning in such a way it would give small children nightmares.

Of course, it was before she'd even arrived in Hueco Mundo she'd evolved to Arrancar, after the last tail of the Kyuubi had finally been merged with her power, even in death. She had a feeling her Zanpakutō was also heavily influenced by Kurama seeing as it was sentient, unlike most Arrancar Zanpakutō which acted mainly to contain their true power or form.

It wasn't until she ran into other former Jinchūriki that she realized it must have been, once again, a side effect of being jinchūriki in life. To her sadness her mother, who had been a jinchūriki before her, was not in Hueco Mundo. Though that meant her mother had been sent to Soul Society, and she supposed that was a much happier place for her mother to have gone.

She supposed it all depended on upbringing to if the Jinchūriki had enough negative emotion to become Hollows, or maybe a Shinigami had simply gotten to her mother faster, and her mother's chain hadn't eroded as quickly. After all, none had known Kushina was a jinchūriki but a select few.

Like her, the other jinchūriki who were dead – which was everyone but Gaara and Killer B when she'd died – had started out as Vasto Lorde, completely skipping over the other evolutions.

She was the quickest to become Arrancar, of course one became an Arrancar by ripping their mask off and none of them had known this until certain times into their afterlife. She'd figured it out about two months after her death, while still in the human world. The others had figured it out between five and nine months respectively.

What had confused her was Kabuto's resurrection jutsu, if the other jinchūriki, along with Itachi were Hollows – Itachi being a rather level headed Adjuchas rather quickly after his death and Hollowfication – then how had Kabuto summoned their souls back?

The truth was the Jutsu had still worked because they were souls, even if they were Hollows. Unfortunately, for the most part, his jutsu had taken their free will, otherwise they would have simply eaten Kabuto's soul and been done with it. Pity that couldn't have been the end of it.

Once Kabuto was taken out and the jutsu ended, they had reappeared in Hueco Mundo as if they'd never been gone. Of course they remembered everything, and while upset at being used they had moved past it.

The Fact remained that she, Uzumaki Miyuki, had never been normal in life and even in death she defied all human logic – or otherwise. At least she got to see her friends every now and then and sometimes a Hollow appeared that was once someone she knew. She remembered running into three certain ones the most clearly, Madara, Kabuto and Orochimaru.

She'd made quick work of taking care of them, Vasto Lordes or not, sometimes with the help of the others. The fact there were so few Arrancar had allowed for them not to realize they could rip their mask off to gain a new level of power.

Of course, considering she and the other former jinchūriki could be considered the new Bijū (they had actually taken on their Bijū's names as aliases of sorts, in honor of their old tenants which helped form their Zanpakutō's) the three major pains from their human life most likely wouldn't have stood much of a chance.

Sometime, about eighty years after her death in the living world – she sometimes visited Konoha and her friends to check in – there was another old friend who arrived in Hueco Mundo. Sasuke, which really shouldn't have been much of a surprise to her, but running into a recently evolved, Vasto Lorde, Sasuke had surprised her at the time.

At first she'd thought it was Itachi, but then realized it was a Vasto Lorde so couldn't possibly be the former Akatsuki member. She'd been happy to see him once more, though. In the time before he'd arrived Gaara and Killer B had already joined as the last jinchūriki's to die.

In life, she and Sasuke had gone through a lot together, facing each other in life or death fights many times after he'd left for Sound. When he'd returned during the war it had been one of the happiest days of her life.

If not the happiest, honestly some of her earliest human memories were hazy at best. Most memories, from the time she was twelve to when she'd died at seventeen were rather clear, though. She'd held onto them tightly.

Years passed, and they became the few existing Arrancar and were hailed as gods of Hueco Mundo, as Kings and Queens. Personally, Miyuki felt she could have done without the attention and praise, but what was done was done. As time continued to move on they all noticed how Hollows began to become even less intelligent, to evolve slower, to not be quite as powerful as once before.

As one of the ones who visited the human world the most often, Miyuki could report that things were vastly changing. What she suspected was that the world was loosing the ability to harness their chakra as they once had.

The physical energy and spiritual energy was no longer blending together properly, as the arts were lost with the old world Elemental Nations and Ninja began to become obsolete.

By the time a thousand years had passed it was unlikely that unless they knew the arts in life, as she and the others did, there would be no more chakra users in the world. They were now an extinct race, if one didn't count Miyuki and the others – considering they were dead it was unlikely they would.

This was when Hueco Mundo wasn't quite as populated with Hollows.

Now days, some three thousand years latter, things had truly changed. Hollows were even more viscous at times, and had grown greatly in numbers. Unlike when Miyuki had first came to Hueco Mundo, Vasto Lordes and Arrancar had become even more of a minority.

She had noticed though, that recently there was rumors of the Arrancar numbers growing, which confused her. Arrancar were the most scarce of all evolutions for quite a while. For some time it had only been her, Gaara, Yugito, Yagura (who was actually quite likable once he got over the whole Madara-mind-fuck, which had started the Kiri civil war and Bloodline Massacres), Rōshi, Han, Utakata, Fū, Killer B, Itachi and Sasuke.

Over all Miyuki didn't mind this new existence she led, though she found it kind of ironic that she'd spent her life trying to prove to her village she wasn't a monster or demon, and that was basically what Hollows were considered.

She may have her mind intact, and power over her baser instincts that loved the fight, the hunt, and the carnage, but she, like all Hollows, had still lost her heart. The hole above her navel, just below her breast was proof of this. As was the mask fragment, which was covered nearly half of the left side of her face, circling her eye, down her cheek, around her ear which continued up in a bone fox ear.

The right side also had a piece of her mask which went down her hairline and circled her ear and ended with a fox-line bone ear, much like the right side. The white mask had three sharp black marks, a resemblance to her whisker birthmarks she'd had in life.

On the right side, where her face was clearly visible, the same whisker marks could be seen as she'd had in life, but they were thicker, more feral looking just as they were on her mask fragment.

Other than the mask she hadn't changed much from life in appearance. Her hair was still sort of messy, with a subtle spiky quality when it came to the bangs that fell in her face. It was a bright, yet moderately dark red – similar to her mother's hair.

It was long, if it were not tied up with golden bands in pigtails, which trailed behind her to her calf's, than it would probably touch the sands of Hueco Mundo. It didn't help that she was still rather short, only 5'0 1/2. Her skin was paler than in life, her whisker marks thicker and darker, as mentioned before. Her eyes were still the same bright cerulean blue, but now had slit-pupil's, like a fox.

Miyuki continued to exist, though there were not many who believed the old ones to still be around, but their legend still existed. Only a few knew for certain she and the other titled_ 'Deities of Hueco Mundo'_ existed. It was how they preferred it, after all.

As it was for nearly fifty years now Miyuki had spent most of her time in the living world, most aptly in Karakura Town, Japan, which had once been a large part of Fire Country, mostly Konohagakure and a few miles outside of the once forested village.

Now there were large buildings and roads and the land marks she had grown up with were long gone. Three thousand years did that, though.

There was something that kept her in the human world, a certain family. A family she'd known for around fifty years, starting with Kurosaki Masaki's mother, Misao, and ending with Masaki's children and husband who were still living in Karakura Town.

It was this that would change how the Sword of Fate fell upon Kurosaki Ichigo, and all of Soul Society.

**.**

**.**

**.**

_**And so the sword of fate fell...**_

"You'd think she'd be on time after so many years..." a red haired male muttered.

A woman, with long blonde hair in a tight french braid, cat ears made of bone, and slit-pupil, cat-like eyes chuckled at the redheads words.

"When is Miyuki ever on time, Gaara?" Yugito asked, amused.

The redheaded man, about twenty in appearance, sighed. He had distinct, stoic, sea foam green eyes, which lacked pupils, and had black rings around them. His hair was messy and on his forehead one could see the kanji for love. Along the opposite side of his face (the left) was a part of a tanuki-like bone mask that started from his temple, the corner of his eye, and then widened slightly along his cheek to the corner of his mouth and over his ear.

There were eight others sitting around the large table, made of what seemed like white stone or marble, but was made from the sand found in Hueco Mundo, and the minerals that made up the trees found there.

Being from the Land of Wind and Sunagakure, which was largely made of sand and other minerals, Gaara had been great help when it came to creating the large structure that the eleven of them met at, at least once a month.

Some could say it was a castle, located in a hiden location in Menos Forest. Hidden with heavy genjutsu and fūinjutsu. Of course, all of their personal territories, or homes, were.

"Hn, she probably picked it up from Kakashi-sensei," another male muttered, sounding almost annoyed.

Said person had black hair which had a distinctly duck-butt hairstyle, black eyes and a bone mask which curved along his cheekbone from the corner of his eye to a little above his jaw, in a wing like shape. Though he had died at an older age, he didn't look older than seventeen or eighteen, his prime.

There was another who looked like him, but his mask fragment was larger, and had more of a resemblance to half a crow skull the way it was shaped, covering nearly half the right side of his face. His hair was long and black, just as the younger looking boys was. He was only around twenty or twenty-one himself in appearance.

"How cruel, teme, here I thought we'd moved past the name calling," a familiar, if not slightly childish voice interrupted them all.

They all looked over at the girl who'd entered. She was between the ages of sixteen and seventeen, but could pass for younger because of the pigtails she kept her long, crimson hair in. her mask fragment was fox-like, covering half the left side of her face, with a second fragmented piece along the hairline on the left side, curling around her ears and going up in a bone fox ear, as it did on the other side.

The mask wasn't quite as plain as the others – sans Gaara's, who had black designs, similar to when he was possessed by Shukaku in the chūnin Exams when they were twelve, on his mask fragment. Her's had three whisker marks. It was mirrored on her bare left cheek, something she'd brought from her human life.

She wore a shin length, white cheongsam, which was split up the sides till her hips, and white thigh length stockings on under this. Her feet were encased in black and dark brown shin boots, which went up to just below her knees. The cheogasm itself had short sleeves, and crimson edges, on the back was the Shiki Fūjin in black. On her hands were orange fingerless gloves.

Though one couldn't see it, on the inside were seals that kept her clothes from needing to be cleaned, and replaced. If they were ripped or torn in a fight, all she had to do was feed chakra or simply spiritual energy to the seals and they'd be as good as new. Being an Arrancar didn't exactly give them many options of going out and buying more than one copy after all.

"Miyuki-chan," Yugito said, smiling slightly at the younger girl, along with the others. "Have a nice trip to the human world?"

They were all considered deities of Hueco Mundo, as Kings and Queens, but Hueco Mundo didn't have a governing like other places. It was all about power, and whoever had the most were considered rulers. It was a little different for them, since they were the oldest Hollows still around, and the most powerful. Of course, they'd faded mostly to legend now, but that was how they liked it.

The point was, they all knew Miyuki was the most powerful out of them all, not just because of having been the Kyuubi's container, but because she'd been a powerhouse herself as a human.

"It was alright," she said, sitting in the only remaining seat next to Killer B and Sasuke. "And you all?"

"Fine. Hueco Mundo has been... Hueco Mundo," Fū said, shrugging, her shoulder length, mint green hair shifting with the movement.

"Not like there's much to see around here," Killer B said, for once not rapping.

It had taken about a thousand years, give or take, but eventually Killer B had gotten to the point where he didn't talk in rap constantly. Sometimes he did break out into a rap, every now and then, but mostly he spoke as a normal person. Which saved everyone's ears and nerves, so it wasn't an unpleasant change. It had taken them a while to get used to though.

"Personally, I think it's nice," Gaara muttered and everyone snorted. Gaara raised an eyebrow at them, and sighed, rolling his eyes slightly. "Maybe it's a little repetitive at times."

"That's easy for you, you grew up in a place with nothing but sand," Miyuki said, smirking slightly. "Anyways, is there anything to add?"

"Hmm, I've noticed Hollow activity seems to be increasing," Yugito mentioned.

Many nodded, having noticed the same thing.

"I've heard rumors, about an large group of Arrancar..." Yagura began. "I'm still working on finding more on the subject."

Miyuki frowned, wondering if this had anything to do with the odd feeling she'd been getting lately. She'd noticed more Hollows around and in Karakura lately.

"When I left Karakura I noticed something off, I think there might be a Shinigami there."

"That's not unusual," Itachi spoke up, quirking an eyebrow. "There usually are, Karakura does get a lot of Hollow activity at times."

Miyuki nodded, still scowling.

"I know, but I just have this uneasy feeling. Like I'm needed there..."

Everyone frowned, they'd learned that Miyuki's gut was usually right.

**.**

**.**

**.**

For as long as he'd been able to remember seeing spirits was normal. He couldn't really recall ever being unable to in any case.

It helped that he wasn't the only one. His younger sisters were spiritually aware as well, though only Karin could see with any clarity, like he did. Before his mother died she too was able to see them.

Kurosaki Ichigo, age fifteen. Until the day he met _her_ his life was relatively normal, except for the spirits. One in particular, which had hung around his family for years came to mind when someone mentioned spirits.

Before the Shinigami girl, Rukia, appeared he'd thought he knew pretty much all there was to know about Miyuki.

Miyuki was the odd spirit that had known his mother, and maternal grandmother, and so there was a lot that was known about her, but he would find he was wrong. That in all actuality what Miyuki told his family about her past was only the beginning.

What he did know, was that it was the night of a bright, full moon that everything changed.

**.**

**.**

**.**

"It's amazing, a miracle!" his dad, Isshin exclaimed, bringing Ichigo from his shock somewhat. "A truck plows right into the house, and yet not a soul was hurt!"

"Right, a miracle," Karin muttered, staring with calm disbelief at the hole in the house.

Ichigo twitched, sweat-dropping at how unbelievable ol' goat face was being.

"You can't be serious," Ichigo muttered, looking back to his sisters.

It was easy to see they remembered nothing either, and the wounds he knew they'd had were gone. At least Karin was much more hesitant to believe they hadn't woken up from a truck plowing into the house.

How was that even humanly possible? Unless someone was in a coma that kind of event was bound to wake someone up!

_'I wonder if that girl went back to that place she was talking about, Soul Society, or whatever?' _Ichigo thought, wondering what happened to the short girl.

"Ichi-nii, if you don't eat now you'll be late for school," Yuzu interrupted, and the orange haired sighed and nodded.

"Right, I'll be right there Yuzu."

_'Whatever, it doesn't matter anymore. She's gone and so is that thing. There's no use worrying about it,' _he thought, following after his sister.


	2. The Shinigami and The Arrancar

**.**

**.**

**.**

**Broken Hearts.**

**Chapter 2: The Shinigami and The Arrancar****. **

To his surprise he entered behind Yuzu to see a familiar bright crimson shade of hair, belonging to an equally familiar girl.

She sat at the table, a bowl in front of her, filled with Ramen – not to his surprise. The girl was obsessed, and he still couldn't understand how a spirit ate human food. She'd tried to explain it, but for some reason the idea that Ramen transcended death and was the food of the gods didn't sound right.

When she turned to face him, he could now clearly see more of the bone fragments he assumed were decorations of some sort. When he was younger the fox-like fragments sent a chill down his spine, but now he expected them. He wasn't sure Miyuki would be herself without them.

Though, when she smiled it got kind of awkward, such a sweet and innocent smile next to the sinister grin portrayed on the mask was rather creepy.

He couldn't help but notice that her presence, while not sinister, held an underlying feel to it that reminded him of the hollow that had attacked them last night. It might have simply been the mask fragments, but he shook this all aside.

His family had known Miyuki since before he was even thought of, she was simply a spirit who was attached to them. He and Karin were the only ones who could see her though, and it was apparent with how Yuzu seemed to look right over the redhead, and his dad didn't even seem to realize she was there.

"Yuki-chan," Yuzu began, smiling, her ladle still in hand. "I'm glad you're back, Onee-chan."

Karin snorted slightly, as she lifted her head from where she'd rested it on the palm of her hand. "She's on the other side, Yuzu, with the other Ramen bowl."

Ichigo's lips twitched at this, realizing his younger sister was talking to the wrong bowl of Ramen – there was always more than one made (usually by Miyuki herself) seeing as the girl was a black hole when it came to Ramen.

"Oops," Yuzu said, laughing lightly as she turned to her other side.

Miyuki giggled behind one of her hands at the young girl, who reminded her so much of Masaki and Misao it wasn't funny. Karin, as ironic as it was reminded her a little of Sasuke, she even looked something alike. Made her wonder if Masaki's family, or maybe Isshin's, had some Uchiha descent.

It had been around three thousand years since then, and the blood would have been water downed to the point the bloodline was lost (not that it would have mattered, when humans lost the ability to utilize chakra, bloodlines kind of became obsolete and faded into legend as well).

Karin was the only one to hold any resemblance to Sasuke, so she'd come to accept it simply as a coincidence. Considering Masaki's family had originally come from another part of Japan it was unlikely they had any relation to Sasuke, as distant as it would be. She didn't know enough about Isshin's family, to say for sure or not. She doubted it, though.

One thing she did wonder, and had since she'd first met Ichigo when he was barely three years old; officially anyways, she'd been there once or twice when he'd been a baby, but it wasn't like he'd remember that. She hadn't stayed long either, she usually didn't stay in one place for more than a few months.

She digressed though, she had wondered if Ichigo was perhaps the reincarnation of Yahiko.

She had never truly met Yahiko, but she remembered the path which Nagato had used Yahiko's body for, and what she'd learned about him from Nagato and Konan. She had always seen a resemblance between Ichigo and Yahiko, though maybe not in personality if what she remembered from Nagato and Konan were correct.

"_It's fine, Yuzu," _she said, though she knew Yuzu couldn't hear her. Karin took the time to relay her words to her younger twin, who grinned happily before sitting down to her own breakfast.

"What did you say, Yuzu-chan, is my third daughter here!?" Isshin exclaimed, looking Miyuki's general direction, but Miyuki was the only one to notice he seemed to zero in on her location better than usual.

She wasn't sure if the others knew, well she was pretty positive they didn't, but at one point in time Isshin had been able to see her as clear as Ichigo or Karin. Being a former Shinigami it was no surprise.

Over the last few months she'd noticed he seemed to be able to see her a bit easier again, at least an outline – similar to how she knew Yuzu could see spirits, though with much more clarity.

Ichigo sat in the free seat next to Miyuki (or Yuki as was a nickname used often), rolling his eyes at his father dramatics. He could just tell it was going to be a long day.

**.**

**.**

**.**

"_I heard what happened last night,"_ Miyuki said, breaking the silence as she walked with Ichigo towards the high school. _"Be honest with me, Ichigo, that wasn't the work of a truck, was it?" _

Ichigo looked at the crimson haired girl from the corner of his eyes, hands stuck deep in the pockets of his school uniform. He was unsure how to answer her, thankfully there wasn't many people on the streets so him seemingly talking to himself wouldn't make anyone question his sanity.

"No," he muttered, frowning deeply as he stared at the ground. "I don't know why Yuzu and Karin don't remember... but it wasn't a truck. That girl, she called it a...Hollow."

He noticed Miyuki stiffened at the name, and wondered what she knew about Hollows. He had no doubt she knew something by the look on her face and how she'd reacted. As old as Miyuki was, once one got past how young she looked, he had no doubt she'd came across them before.

"_But everyone is alright?" _she questioned, her voice low.

Ichigo was relieved when the vibrant girl's head shot up to look at him, her smile fox-like and as cheerfully innocent as it usually was.

"_I'm glad this girl, a Soul Reaper I take it, was there," _she said._ "I'm sorry I wasn't around..." _

"It's alright, Yuki," he said, lips quirking up sightly in a smile. "You couldn't have known. How do you know about Soul Reapers and Hollows anyway?"

Miyuki sighed.

"I... I never did explain my mask fragment to you or the twins did I?" she said, her question rhetorical. "I'll explain it today, after school. At least to you. Lets just say, for now, that I've had my encounters with both Hollows and Soul Reapers."

The two continued to walk with some silence after that, until they reached the school. Ichigo sighed slightly upon seeing it, running a hand through his orange hair before turning to look at Miyuki to find she was already gone.

Snorting, he returned to entering the school grounds, not worried about where the spirit had gone. After all, disappearing acts were something Miyuki had always been good at. For as long as Ichigo had known her, the girl had always been good at disappearing and popping up at random times.

She'd been great when it came to playing hide and seek with Yuzu and Karin when they were younger. She wasn't there all the time, but after his mother's death she did come around more often. He could tell there was some guilt she felt about not being there to help his mother or him that day.

He was so deep in thought he never noticed the girl, with a shade of red-orange hair similar to his own, but darker, that he bumped into. The girl was sent sprawling to the ground, a familiar dark haired girl sending a glare at him before going to help the girl on the ground.

Orihime and Tatsuki, he realized when he came out of this thoughts.

"Ichigo, watch where you're going!" Tatsuki exclaimed, fist clinched and looking as if she was seconds from punching him.

"Oh, Tatsuki, Orihime... I didn't see you there," Ichigo said, kind of surprised he hadn't noticed the two. "You're alright, aren't you?"

Orihime's eyes widened marginally at the concern Ichigo showed, her face turning red as she gazed into the bright brown eyes of her crush. She quickly jumped to her feet, smiling and backing away.

"Uh, I'm..uh fine! I've gotta go, I have volleyball... see you latter Tatsuki-chan!" Orihime exclaimed as she turned and ran, stumbling slightly.

Ichigo straightened up, returning his hands to his pockets, and wondered why the bright haired girl always acted so strange around him.

"What's up with her?" he muttered and Tatsuki chuckled lightly, rubbing the back of her head.

"I wonder," the black haired girl said, slight sarcasm in her voice.

Seconds later, Tatsuki turned to look at the tall boy. "Ichigo, why exactly are you so late today? It's nearly lunch time."

Ichigo sighed, nodding. "I know, I'll tell you about it later. See ya."

Tatsuki watched her long time friend walked away, slightly concerned. He was acting more distracted than usual. She was used to him being kind of distant and could be moody, but he usually wasn't so distracted.

**.**

**.**

**.**

Miyuki bit her lip, glaring at thin air as she sat on the school roof Indian style.

She could almost feel the change in the wind, the calm before the storm some would say. Beyond that she felt...guilty. It wasn't an emotion she felt often. She could count the instances on one hand. Most prominent being when Masaki died.

She'd returned from Hueco Mundo only to find Ichigo pacing the river where Masaki had died. She'd only been gone about two months, but by then it was far to late for her to do anything.

She'd thought of going after whoever or whatever had attacked and killed Masaki but she had no way of knowing who, or what Hollow was responsible. She could still remember the last time she'd seen Masaki alive, the last time she'd seen one of Ichigo's bright, happy grins.

Ichigo never grinned anymore, he barely even smiled.

Then there was the fresher guilt, guilt from last night. The fact she'd once again left for Hueco Mundo and returned to realize her gut had been right. She shouldn't have left the day before, and she was only lucky the Soul Reaper had appeared when she had or Ichigo and his family would have been killed, and probably eaten by the Hollow which attacked.

If she'd not left... she shook her head.

What if's never solved anything, at least she could say she had listened to her gut in some way by returning to the living world sooner than she usually would. She hadn't even hunted, not that she need to eat souls often. When she did she always ate other Hollows. This way she could at least say she'd not eaten a soul while the living world.

Ears twitching, which looked and felt a little weird, since she had part of her mask fragments connecting there, Miyuki looked over to a deserted area to see Ichigo and a girl coming from the school.

The girl was rather short, shorter even than her own miserable five and half feet tall build. Though being so short didn't stop Miyuki from having an impressive bust size, but it wasn't like she really cared. She'd never been on to focus on her looks, her ninja career had come first when she was alive.

The mystery girl had a considerable amount of Reiatsu (though it seemed depleted along with her Reiryoku), so Miyuki was positive she wasn't human.

She had shoulder length black hair, which laid in a unique way, one single bang of hair stubbornly laying along the bridge of her nose area. Her skin was pale, paler than her own, and she could tell from the distance she was at that she had light colored eyes. Blue or violet, it was hard to say.

Standing up, she made her way closer to the pair, so she would be able to listen in more closely. The whole time she made sure to keep a tight hold on her reiatsu.

It was rather ironic, in life she had little control over her chakra, but in death she had enough control to hide her spiritual pressure, energy and chakra from just about anyone, if she put her mind to it. But then again, she'd had over three thousand years to work on her skills.

**.**

**.**

**.**

This had to be a nightmare.

There was no way the girl from the night before was in front of him, acting as if she was some sweet, and innocent school girl.

Yet the proof was in front him, and added to that everyone could see her. He was under the impression she was a spirit of sorts. As in dead, as in a majority o the living couldn't see her.

Ichigo twitched as she continued with the goody-goody act. He seen it before, but very few could pull it off. Miyuki could and she'd succeeded in teaching Yuzu a trick or two. Like the puppy-dog eyes, for example. That was beside the point, though.

Miyuki could pull off the sweet and innocent act, how exactly she could with the sinister looking mask fragment was beyond him, but she somehow pulled it off. Kuchiki Rukia could not, in his opinion, pull it off.

"First of all," he began. Knock it off! That goody-two-shoes act ain't foolin' anybody!"

Rukia laced her hands behind her back, shooting him a look before she spoke. "It's pretty good, if I do say so myself. Especially considering I just learned it last night."

Ichigo scoffed.

"Yeah, right," he muttered, shaking his head. "Now, tell me why you're still here. Don't you have a place to return to? Soul Society or whatever?"

Rukia sighed, looking away from her new, orange haired acquaintance. She wished she could return home, but it didn't seem possible, not for a while at least.

"I can't," she admitted. "Only spirits, and Soul Reapers can enter Soul Society. I've lost nearly all my powers last night, too you, Ichigo."

Ichigo's eyes widened momentarily.

"What?"

She nodded gravely.

"Just as I said, you took nearly all of my power. This is just a Gigai I am forced to wear until they return, so I can go home."

"Gi..gai?" he asked dumbly.

"Yes. It's a faux body we Soul Reapers use when on important missions in the living world, or just need to regain our strength like myself. It allows for humans to see us as if we were living humans as well."

"So that's why everyone could see you," Ichigo realized, speaking under his breath.

"Exactly," said Rukia, having heard his muttered words. "But the most important thing about this is is the fact I can no longer do my duty as a Soul Reaper."

"What? Why not!?" Ichigo demanded, startled.

She sent him an annoyed look.

"Can't you guess, Ichigo? I'm barely able to do a basic Kido, much less stop any Hollows that may attack." Rukia shook her head, continuing, "No, so until I get my powers back, you, Ichigo, must take my place and preform my duties as a Substitute Soul Reaper!"

Ichigo blinked several times, the words sinking in. he would have done something, shouted that he wasn't the type to save the world, that'd he'd only done what he'd done last night to save his family. Alas he didn't have the time, instead he was startled by the sudden burst of laughter, bordering on cackles and giggles as a crimson, and white figure fell from what appeared to be thin air.

Both he and Rukia turned when the laughing body slammed into the ground, making a slight dent in the ground, but seemed unhurt as the long haired girl rolled around on the ground, still laughing insanely.

Ichigo twitched, and Rukia blinked at the odd sight.

_'What..what is going on here?'_ Rukia couldn't help but think.

"Yuki, will you knock it off! It's not funny!" he yelled, swinging his leg out to kick the laughing girl.

Not to his surprise, the girl was able to agilely evade his kick, it was one of the reasons he had no problems with hitting a girl. He knew Miyuki could handle it, if she allowed herself to be hit that was.

Standing up, the girl wiped away the tears which had fallen as she laughed.

"I..ahhhaha...I'm sorry," Miyuki said, her laughter becoming under control slowly. "It's just so funny... you as a Soul Reaper...hahaha!"

Ichigo twitched, a vein throbbing on his temple.

Rukia looked between the two, blinking at their antics, especially when the orange hair boy grabbed the girl with red pigtails, that were extremely long, and held her against his chest.

One arm around her stomach, the other wrapped around her chest, closer to her neck as if he were trying to subdue or give her a painful noogy – she'd seen human children and teenagers giving what they called 'noogies' to their friends or siblings. She'd also seen bullies do it.

Rukia hated to admit it, but she was kind of behind on human behavior in the twenty-first century. For all she knew this could be some sort of mating ritual, but she highly doubted it.

"Shut up, it's not funny! Who says I couldn't be a Soul Reaper!" Ichigo narrowed his eyes further when Miyuki ignored the position he had her in, and continued to laugh even more.

"It's just an image I never thought I'd see, Kurosaki Ichigo, a Soul Reaper..."

"I'd be a great Soul Reaper, I did just fine last night, Yuki!" Ichigo exclaimed, moving his right arm to mess up the shorter girls hair.

Miyuki struggled more seriously, wanting to avoid too much harm to her hair, which wasn't that easy to make obey her in the first place.

It wasn't exactly easy to care for at times, being so long, but she couldn't image cutting it so besides for trims every now and then it had always stayed long. Like her mothers. She wasn't a girly-girl, but she did have one pet peeve, and that was someone messing with her hair, like Ichigo was doing currently.

Once she broke from his grip, panting and out of breath from all the laughing, Miyuki huffed, and tried to fix the damage done. It wasn't as bad as it could be, but she'd have to take her pigtails out and redo them in the near future.

"That was a low blow, It'll take me five minutes just to brush it out and put it back up," she muttered, pouting slightly.

"Tch, shouldn't have laughed, nothin' funny about it," Ichigo said, and was thankful no one was around.

It would have probably have looked weird if anyone had seen him. Wrestling with air, basically.

Miyuki composed herself, and smiled at the boy.

Maybe it wouldn't be funny to someone else, but she'd known the boy for years. The image of him being like any other haughty, arrogant, stick-up-their-ass, Soul Reaper; who apparently knew better than anyone about if all Hollows were the same; lost souls, mindless beast, and didn't even think to make a distinction.

Maybe she was a little bitter, there had been quite a few Shinigami to come across her in the past and attempt to _'purify her evil'_.

She rolled her eyes, did she look evil? She didn't think so. She was a Hollow, true, but that didn't mean she had no thoughts or feelings. Though, nowadays most Hollows were evil, mindless beast who lived only to eat souls.

Still, even with Ichigo's protectiveness, and strong character, based on the Soul Reapers she'd encountered it was simply ironic and funny to her. But the more she thought about, she had no doubt Ichigo would make a great Soul Reaper. Even if it was only until the short girl got her powers back.

"Sorry, I just compared you're personality to the Shinigami I'd encountered in the past. The idea of you being one was kind of funny to me, I guess it's more of an inside joke."

Miyuki couldn't held the flush that overcame her cheeks and was happy her mask fragment hid one from view.

Speaking of her mask, Miyuki snuck a glance at the black haired Soul Reaper, and sure enough the girl had recovered enough to take a better look at her.

_'Any moment now.'_ she thought and began to count. _'I. 2. 3. 4...'_

"A Hollow," Rukia said, her voice shocked and coated in a little venom. "Ichigo, get away from her..."

Rukia had fallen into a defensive stance, and looked ready to attack at any moment. Ichigo's eyes widened, and he looked from Rukia to Miyuki, the latter of the two looked resigned. As if she knew this was coming.

"Wait...Rukia, don't this is just Miyuki..." Ichigo began.

"No, Ichigo this is a Hollow. I can feel her spiritual pressure. It's well hiden, but it's definitely that of a Hollow, and that mask...it's broken but it's definitely a Hollow mask."

"Can't we discuss this like adults," Miyuki said more than asked, and Rukia shot forward.

Miyuki danced around Rukia, avoiding every hit with ease, and Rukia cursed the slow body she was forced to use.

"A hollow..." Ichigo muttered, and he stared at the redhead as it all began to make sense. "That would explain...but if she's a hollow than why..."

Ichigo shook his head and moved to get between the two girls, just as he did Rukia had unleashed one of her spell things, which Miyuki avoided, narrowly, pulling him with her so he wouldn't be hit.

"Ichigo!" Rukia yelled, surprised by his interference.

"Watch where you send those things, shorty!" Miyuki exclaimed, sneering at the Soul Reaper, who seemed angered by the nickname.

"Whoa, everyone just shut up!" Ichigo yelled. "Rukia, I've known Miyuki since I was a kid, and so did my mother and grandmother. She's been in the family for decades...of course we all just thought she was a spirit."

"Masaki, your mother, knew what I was. As did your grandmother, Misao. I told you I would explain everything after school," Miyuki said, and sighed. "I guess I don't have a choice now that I've blown my own cover."

Looking at Rukia, Miyuki stepped forward, holding out one of her glove covered hands.

"Hello, my name is Uzumaki Miyuki. I'm an Arrancar."

Rukia looked surprised by how polite the redhead was, and confused by what she'd called herself.

"An..Arrancar?" she questioned.

She hadn't heard of that before, as far as she knew there wasn't another evolution passed Vasto Lorde.

"Hmm, when a Vasto Lorde decides to, they can rip off their own mask and reach the final evolution, which is Arrancar. It's where we gain some more of our human appearance, mind and humanity back, and gain a Zanpakutō as well."

"You have a...Zanpakutō?" Rukia asked, gasping in shock.

"Of course," Miyuki said, smiling brightly, and motioning to her side.

There was a black sheath, which had black ribbon wrapping around it. A long katana-like blade was inside, the hilt wrapped with the same black ribbon, with some of the same ribbon connection to the bottom and dangling down. It made Rukia wonder what the blade itself looked like.

"Most Arrancar Zanpakutō's are different from a Shinigami's. They are only the place were one would seal their powers until a time to release it. There are a select few, myself included, who do have Zanpakutō spirits, of sorts. I have no idea why the majority of Arrancar don't have Zanpakutō spirits, and why I and a few others do. We have our theories, but there is no way to know if it's accurate or not."

Rukia wanted to ask about the others she mentioned, and their theories but knew from the look on her face, and the way she'd worded her sentence she wouldn't explain further. Slowly she began to ease up a bit, though from her narrowed eyes she clearly did not trust the redhead.

"I see, and you've been attached to Ichigo's family for a while then, Hollow?" Rukia asked. "Were you a part of it when you were alive? Why don't you let a Shinigami send you to Soul Society? You must still eat souls, you're still a Hollow after all."

Miyuki rolled her eyes at the girl, but answered since she knew from the way Ichigo was looking at her, he wanted the answers as well.

"I have, I knew his mother's mother, and Masaki was a very good friend. I suppose I became attached to the Kurosaki family, and Hueco Mundo is rather boring, being only sand and all. I wasn't apart of the Kurosaki family while alive, I'm far older than I look. As for why I don't let myself be _killed_, that's simple, would you let yourself be killed? I do have to eat, as you said I am still a Hollow, but I live off of Hollows. I don't need to devour souls of the living or recently departed."

Ichigo stared at Miyuki for what seemed like forever, contemplating everything he'd learned. Could he trust her? She did admit to being a Hollow, or Arrancar, but his mother had trusted her, as had his grandmother – who he'd never met, since she'd died before he was even born.

The idea of her not being around made his chest hurt, though, and he realized what she was didn't matter. He'd known her for years, if she was going to harm him or his family she'd have done it already. It wasn't like they could stop her.

No, he trusted her more than he trusted anyone, other than his few friends.

"Thanks for telling me, Yuki," Ichigo finally said. "It's doesn't matter to me what you are, I trust you."

Miyuki smiled up at him brightly, and he returned a small smile, though it lasted only for a few moments.

Rukia sighed, knowing that if Ichigo trusted the redhead there wasn't anything she could do. Not to mention the hollow had been honest, as far as she could tell, with her answers.

There was also a lack of evil intent in her presence, which every hollow she'd felt had. It was dark, and hollow-like, don't get her wrong, but it lacked the certain evil taint that Hollows had.

"Fine, but I don't trust you yet," Rukia said. "I'll be watching you, Hollow."

Miyuki gave her a dry look, not at all impressed.

"My name is Miyuki, Soul Reaper, use it."

Rukia nodded slightly, eyes rather cold, not so different from Miyuki's own blue eyes.

"Mine is Rukia, Kuchiki Rukia."

**.**

**.**

**.**

For what seemed like forever, the two girls just stared at each other frostily. Ichigo was beginning to fill as if it were snowing the tension was beginning to get so thick.

"Ichigo, about your calling. I don't have my powers, you do so it's only logical you must take care of them for me. Only until I get my powers back," Rukia finally said, breaking eye contact with the redhead.

"No, no, no, no...I'm not the kind of person to risk my life for a complete stranger," Ichigo said, turning away and stuffing his hands into his pocket. "My monster fighting days are over."

Miyuki smirked.

"I thought you'd make a great Soul Reaper, or isn't that what you said to me earlier?" she said, her tone teasing.

His eye twitched.

"That won't work, Yuki," he said. "I'm not falling for that reverse psychology crap you pull.."

"It's not reverse psychology," Miyuki scoffed. "It's simply me being truthful. As much as I hate to admit it, Shorty has a point."

"Can't you do it?"

"I could," Miyuki said, voice low. "But where is the fun in that, not to mention you are the one who took all her powers. So it's your fault that you're in this situation."

"The Hallo..Miyuki is right," Rukia said, slightly surprised she would ever agree with a Hollow. "You have to do this, Ichigo..."

"No," he said, and began to walk away. "Not a chance."

Rukia sighed, pulling out a red glove with a flaming skull on it.

"You leave me no choice, then," she muttered and took off.

Just as Ichigo turned around to as what she was talking about, her hand slammed into his forehead and his spirit was ejected from his body.

Miyuki blinked, snorted and then smirked.

"That looked fun," she muttered, and chuckled as she watched as Ichigo, now dressed as a Shinigami, with a very large sword attached to his back, freaked out.

Several seconds latter there was an alarm from Rukia phone.

"What's that?" Ichigo asked, finally calming down enough to think rationally.

"A Hollow is nearby."

"Yeah, Miyuki's right there," Ichigo said, pointing to the redhead.

Miyuki was just a bit surprised Ichigo was accepting her so easily.

Rukia stopped suddenly, looking over to the redhead and wondering just how her phone hadn't alerted her to the girls presence earlier. For now she had no time to wonder.

"No, it's not her, it's another one," Rukia said, and grabbed Ichigo by the sleeve. "Let's go, you have work to do."

Miyuki watched as they left, wondering if she should tag along. Looking down at Ichigo's body, she rolled her eyes, picked it up, and placed it against a tree.

He looked like he was asleep, which was what she was aiming for, and he was at such an angle chances were no one would see him.

Nodding to herself, Miyuki turned back in the direction Rukia and Ichigo had gone, before disappearing in a flash.


	3. Hollow 101

**Broken Hearts.**

**Chapter 3: Hollow 101. **

Miyuki couldn't help but enjoy how Ichigo handled his first Hollow as a Substitute Soul Reaper – not counting the one from the night before.

She'd easily kept pace with the two after she'd hidden Ichigo's body, and she'd gotten to the park in time to see the argument between him and Rukia in concern for the young spirit being chased by a spider-like Hollow.

She had no intention of letting the spirit be eaten by the Hollow. True, she liked to stay out of other Hollow's business, but if she came upon a spirit of a child being pursued by a Hollow she lent a hand. She wasn't surprised that she hadn't a need to worry. Ichigo acted as the protector he was, and showed Rukia just how unpredictable he was when he cut the spider's legs off.

"So, you've decided," Rukia said, almost smugly.

Ichigo looked back at her with narrowed eyes, nearly growling, though Miyuki doubted Rukia's hearing was good enough to notice it.

"I haven't decided squat!" he declared, shocking Rukia speechless. "You can't expect me to just stand by while someone needs help! I decided to save that boy because I wanted to, you hear me?"

Turning to look at her, Ichigo asked, "What about you?"

"Me, what about me?" she asked, wondering what the orange haired boy was referring to.

"I remember you went out of your way to help me and my family last night." He narrowed his eyes at her. "Tell me, were you really thinking about your duty when you came to my aid? Of course not! That's the last thing on anyone's mind when their saving someone!"

Ichigo hefted his large Zanpakutō up, and Rukia saw the Hollow return to it's feet and begin to charge at Ichigo. Before she could speak he beat her to it.

"At the very least...I choose," Ichigo began, eyes cold and determined as he turned to the side, sticking his blade out. "To be different!"

Rukia watched in slight awe as the Hollow was impaled through the mask on the blade, and began to dissolve. She didn't know him well, but she admitted she'd never expected this from him. Not only was he close to an Arrancar, a Hollow, but he had such a strange moral code.

He claimed to not care to save random strangers, yet he contradicted himself by doing just that. Yet his words contradicted the contradiction, if that made any sense. Rukia wasn't sure it did, but what she was trying to get across...was that she was impressed.

"Well done," Miyuki spoke up from her tree branch, making everyone turn towards her. "I especially enjoyed your speech, putting shorty there in her place."

The redhead snickered at the surprised, and then angry and annoyed air the Soul Reaper gave off. The short girl would be amusing to annoy, though she also felt the girl would be a good friend, if she could let go of her dislike for Hollows. Maybe learn to let loose, removing that stick-up-her-ass that she'd seen one to many times in the clans when she was alive.

Actually, the girl reminded her a little of the Hyūga clan, maybe there was some sort of relation?

"Miyuki," Ichigo said, and blinked when he saw the ice cream in the girls hands. It was a waffle bowl with vanilla, and chocolate ice cream, crushed cookies and hot fudge. He twitched for a second. "You stopped for ice cream, at a time like this!?"

Miyuki grinned, and shrugged, sticking a spoonful in her mouth happily as she walked over to them. As she got within feet of them she had to pass the boy spirit, who saw her, and began to crawl away slowly.

"_NO!_ No more monsters!" the boy cried. "Please, don't eat me, I wouldn't taste very good anyways."

Miyuki froze, as did Ichigo, though he froze mostly in surprise at the boys words. She turned to the little boy, who looked terrified of her and shook for a moment. She didn't come in contact with many plus souls, she tried to stay away from them for this very reason.

Blinking once, the girl slowly pushed the hurt of the boys words back, and smiled kindly. She knelt and held out her hands, which held the remaining half of her ice cream.

"I won't eat you, I promise," Miyuki said. "I'm not even hungry, I swear on my mask. Here, do you want the rest of my ice cream, kid?"

her voice was as kind as she could make it, but she'd always liked kids and been good with them, even when she was alive. Sakura used to say she had a huge maternal streak, and would make a great mother, of course she'd never gotten the chance. Though, it wasn't like she couldn't even in death.

While Hollows usually didn't have reproductive organs, Arrancar's did. Of course, there had never been a recorded birth between Hollows. At least not for nearly two thousand years, if not longer. It was hard to keep track of time when you lived forever, unless killed in battle.

The spirit boy looked wearily at the girl with the scary mask fragment, and same presence as the monsters that chased him. Yet it was also different, not as malevolent, it was almost like a controlled chaos. Slowly he moved forward, reaching for the ice cream, something he hadn't had in what felt like years since he'd died.

He hadn't been aware he could eat anything, he was never hungry after all.

"Th...thank you, Fox-chan," the boy said, not knowing her name and recognizing the mask fragment as that of a fox, at least it reminded him of a fox.

"That was...kind," Rukia said, though she'd never seen or heard of Pluses or Hollows eating food, much less human food. She assumed it was converted into reishi in digestion.

Ichigo grunted, nodding before he walked over to the boy who was finishing the ice cream and knelt down.

"Listen kid, if you want monsters to stop findin' you, then you better hurry and move on," Ichigo said and tapped the boys forehead with his Zanpakutō's handle.

Miyuki smiled as the boy was bathed in light and disappeared to Soul Society. She'd only seen a few soul burials, but they were beautiful sights to behold. If only Rukongai was run more smoothly, as for how she knew anything about the home of most Souls in Soul Society, she had her ways.

She'd been there before, if only to try and find the ones most important to her in the past. A few had become Shinigami, others were content to live in Rukongai, but they had gotten assigned relatively good districts. A few were not so lucky. Most had died again, and gone on to be reincarnated. Those still around, well it wasn't like she could sneak in often, she hadn't been back to Rukongai – she stayed out of Seireitei itself – in over three centuries.

She smiled slightly as she remembered the few times her presence had been detected, of course by the time they'd begun looking for the _'Ryoka'_, she was long gone. She had a feeling the old man, Yamamoto, had an inkling who had gotten in and out pretty much unnoticed.

Good times, good times.

"That was beautifully done," Rukia said, approaching the orange haired teen.

Ichigo's usual frown deepened and he turned, taking a moment to acknowledge Miyuki.

"I'm out of here," he said, but after a few steps he stopped and glanced at Miyuki. "You coming too, Yuki?"

Miyuki smirked slightly and nodded, taking a few quick steps to catch up with the taller boy, leaving Rukia to stare at their retreating figures in surprise. It wasn't hard to sense the dark haired girl was unsure what to do.

******.**

******.**

******.**

Ichigo stared at Miyuki, taking in everything he'd learned in the last hour and half. While he'd known there was a lot about the redhead he didn't know, he'd not thought she was anything more than a spirit.

True, she didn't have a chain, but he'd assumed the chain was either hidden, or she was old enough it simply fell off, like an umbilical cord on a newborn. Looking back he supposed it was a bit foolish to assume that much. She also didn't have any signs of being a Hollow, besides the mask fragment which made so much more since now. He'd never, not once, seen her without it. At the same time he'd never seen a hole that he saw on every Hollow he'd seen so far – which admittedly was only two or three.

Though it did explain a lot about Miyuki. The slit-pupil eyes, like a cat or more like a fox. The marks on her only revealed cheek, like three whiskers, and the way her canines were more like fangs you'd find on a fox or animal in general.

The darker undertone to her presence, though after being around her so long it really wasn't noticeable in the way the Hollows he'd fought was. It felt Hollow like, now that he had something to compare it too and was looking for it, but it lacked any evil or malevolent intent.

That was one reason he knew he could trust her, another being that he'd known her for so long. He had no doubt she'd have killed them long ago if she'd wanted too, but most of all there was a part of him, that made his chest feel tight and his heart beat strangely, that told him she could be trusted with his life. With his families life.

He'd always been one to trust his gut instincts.

"Why did you never tell me?" he asked, sitting on the roof of his home. "I understand why you didn't tell dad, Karin or Yuzu..."

"Would you have understood?" Miyuki asked. "I've always told those I've become attached to, like you mother and grandmother, who and what I am. I may leave things out, or omit details of my life – as you can imagine my human life is a touchy subject at the best of time."

Miyuki sighed, shaking her head, and Ichigo looked at her with a hint of concern, he hadn't meant to drag up memories of her past, if it was painful. He would admit he only knew that her name had been Uzumaki Miyuki when she was alive and in death. That she had been an orphan, and wasn't well liked in the village she'd lived in.

He'd always assumed she was a few centuries ol from this, since her use of the word village to describe her home, and villages like that hadn't been seen in four, three hundred years. He'd paid enough attention in history to know that much.

"But, with the exception of a few, I've always waited until they were ready. I had planned to explain when you were seventeen. True, it's not that much longer, about a year give or take, but I guess I was afraid you might not want me around if I told you sooner."

"I get it," Ichigo said, nodding. "I still wish you'd told me, but I understand." _Especially after mom_... Ichigo trailed off, unable to finish that line of thought.

"Thank you," she muttered, loud enough for him to hear.

"Miyuki... if you're a Hollow, than where is your hole? Do you not have one ?" he asked, the question and his own curiosity concerning the girl getting the better of him.

Miyuki snorted slightly, tilted her head towards him an smirked. "Didn't anyone ever tell you it's rude to ask where a ladies hole is, Ichi-kun?" she asked, her tone teasing, and one eyebrow raised upwards.

Ichigo's eyes widened, and he shook his head and waved his hands in front of him, as if in a frantic surrender.

"No! That's not what I meant, I meant your hollow hol..." Ichigo trailed off as he noticed the redhead burst into fits of laughter and he flushed red in embarrassment. "That was a cruel trick, Yuki."

Miyuki smirked wider as she stopped laughing.

"You're the pervert who assumed I meant another hole," she said, amused by how embarrassed this whole topic made Ichigo.

With a devious look in her blue eyes she grabbed onto Ichigo hand, and to Ichigo's surprise set it on the area just bellow her breast. This only caused the boy to resemble a hot pepper, if a hot pepper had orange hair, that is.

"Yuk-i, what..." Ichigo's eyes widened, and stopped trying to remove his hand, when he realized that with the pressure Miyuki was applying to his hand, pressing his firmly against her, that her white Chinese-style dress bent inward, as if that area below the fabric was hollow. "Is that your...hollow hole?"

Miyuki removed her hand from Ichigo, allow the boy to remove his own hand once she knew he'd realized what she was trying to show him. He had asked, and it wasn't like she was ashamed of the hole... she'd gotten over it a long time ago.

She would have shown him the hole, but it was kind of hard with the clothes she commonly wore, the shin length, white _cheongsam_.

"Well, you did ask where it was," Miyuki said, shrugging. "I'm not ashamed of what I am, Ichigo, though I do prefer the term Arrancar. Makes me feel a little more...human, what good it does me."

Ichigo nodded, he could understand that. Though, he was still confused. Hollows were monsters, like demons, how had she become one to begin with? Where Arrancar different, like breeds of the same species, or was it something else? He didn't think it right to ask, not after he'd already asked her about her hollow hole, which was probably kind of personal as far as questions went.

"I should go in," Ichigo said, standing. "Are you staying?"

Miyuki had a frown on her face for a moment as she decided, but finally she nodded. "Yes, but I'll probably leave sometime during the night. I have something I need to do."

"You're not going to tell me, are you?" he asked, and she chuckled, her eyes lit mischievously.

"I would, but why ruin the surprise," Miyuki said, more than asked. "You'll find out tomorrow."

Ichigo nodded, helped Miyuki up – though he doubted she really needed the hand up – and the to began to return inside the house.

**.**

**.**

**.**

Rukia quietly made her way back to her closet, well Ichigo's closet, she was simply using it having nowhere else to live.

She was embarrassed by this, one reason why she hadn't told Ichigo. She knew eventually she wouldn't be able to hide it, but until then, she would keep out of sight. Added to the fact she'd just eavesdropped on a rather personal conversation, well it wouldn't do well to be caught listening in.

she didn't usually do such a thing, being a Kuchiki she was taught not to act out of her nobility, and eavesdropping was considered a big no-no, but she'd caught part of their talk and couldn't not listen afterward. The only thing she could say to justify it was at least now she had a little more of an understanding of Miyuki.

She'd been trying to wrap her mind around the idea of a Hollow – no, Arrancar, she reminded herself – that wasn't intent on eating every soul it took a liking too. A peaceful one, it was unheard of. But, she thought, staring up at the closet ceiling, maybe that was because they'd never tried to get the full story before they destroyed Hollows.

She knew she didn't exactly take to trying to find out if the Hollows she was sent after were evil or not before she attacked, but Rukia didn't think there were many Hollows like Miyuki. She was still weary of Miyuki though, it would take some time before she could trust the girl without second guessing herself.

"Ichigo, have you seen my pajamas? I can't find them..."

Looking to the side, at the doors, she heard Ichigo sigh in annoyance.

"No, Yuzu, I don't know where you pajamas are," he replied.

"That's strange, I'm missing a few dresses as well. Karin also mentioned she had some jeans and shirts missing, along with a pair of shoes."

Rukia grimaced at this, she hated having to borrow Ichigo's sister clothes, but they were the only one with clothes her size. She had been careful not to take much, but it looked like it had still been noticed. She didn't listen to the rest of what was said, but her thoughts were soon interrupted by the beeping of her phone, alerting her to a Hollow.

Flipping it open, blinked in surprise.

"A Hollow, now?" her eyes widened, and she sat straight up, throwing the closet door open and putting on her glove in nearly the same instant.

"Ichigo!" she exclaimed, jumping from the closet and shocking Ichigo and Miyuki.

"Huh, what the hell are you doing in there!? Have you been there the whole time and are those my sister clothes!?" Ichigo yelled, and Miyuki shook her head.

If he continued at this rate the whole house would hear him. It was a miracle no one had, but than again, there was a chance Isshin had – after all, she had her suspicions that he was already catching on to the fact Ichigo was a Shinigami.

"No time, we're not alone," Rukia said and shot forward, smacking her palm into his head, and knocking his spirit from his body.

Miyuki smirked, wondering if she could get her hands on that glove, or one like it? Even the second time, it still looked fun – though maybe not for Ichigo.

Seconds later Miyuki's eyes widened, and cursed her own recklessness as she jumped from Ichigo's bed and watched as a Hollow came through a black portal at the head of his bed.

"A Hollow," Miyuki said, eyes narrowed.

"Here?" Ichigo muttered, reaching back for his Zanpakutō. "Dammit!"

Ichigo jumped back once more, along with everyone before he had his sword in his hand.

"Don't just stand there," Rukia said. "Attack it, aim for the head!"

"I know!" Ichigo said, and attacked, slashing at the Hollow's head.

Miyuki twitched, her hand going towards her Zanpakutō. She wanted to help, Sasuke would say she had a hero complex, she just thought he was being a bastard. She didn't have a hero complex, at least...she didn't go around saving everyone, not anymore. Ichigo was one of her precious friends though, but at the same time she knew Ichigo would only get hurt in the future if she took care of battles for him.

As she took a step back, eyes narrowed, and watched Ichigo get rid of the Hollow, she knew she would have to talk to him about training. Ichigo had no experience, and he'd need that if he wanted to survive against stronger Hollows. Maybe if she asked nicely one of the others would help her, after all, her style of fighting might not be exactly right for teaching Ichigo.

She also knew she would help him, she knew herself well enough that she wouldn't stay out of every battle. She loved a fight, and protecting others was something even she couldn't stop completely. When the time came she would fight alongside him, but right now wasn't the time. The Hollow wasn't very powerful, probably a new one, and in the confined space, it was best only Ichigo attacked.

Miyuki closed her eyes, her own thoughts beginning to confuse her. Why did things have to be so complicated? Her thoughts were interrupted seconds later as she heard the roar of the Hollow. What surprised her was the echoing human undertone.

She wasn't sure if the other two heard it, but she knew the roars of a Hollow. She had heard many, even her own – though being an Arrancar now, and only being a Vasto Lorde for a short time, hadn't been often. She hadn't truly changed much when she lost her human life, and heart.

She gasped when she caught sight of the Hollows damaged mask before it escaped through it's portal. She moved over to Ichigo, knowing he would undoubtedly be shaken by the revelation. Neither she nor Rukia had outright told him what a Hollow was before it became a Hollow.

"It..it's.."

"Human underneath the mask?" Miyuki supplied for him, nodding grimly. "It's kind of obvious, after all, I once had a mask that covered the majority of my face as well."

Ichigo looked at Miyuki startled. "You were once like that..."

"Not exactly, I was never a normal Hollow. After I died I was instantly an Vasto Lorde, the highest evolution for those who don't know of Arrancar," she explained.

Rukia looked startled by her admission. "That's...impossible. I've never heard of a Hollow that started out at that level!"

Miyuki looked back at Rukia, and shrugged.

"Well, now days you don't, Shorty, but I'm older than I look, as I've said, and it is possible. It depends on the power the plus soul had before their chain erodes. Nowadays that doesn't even matter, unless they were spiritually aware and there aren't many strong enough to skip an evolution. It happens, but very rarely."

Rukia was at a loss for words. Just how old was Miyuki?

"Wait," Ichigo began, eyes wide. "You mean to tell me those things are humans? I mean, I assumed Miyuki was once human, but I thought that maybe she was another species or something, being an Arrancar and that it tied in..."

"It wasn't human, Ichigo, not anymore. Hollows are the souls that lose themselves to negative emotions. Regret, pain, loneliness, hate, rage, despair. Their chain of fate erodes over time and before a Shinigami can send them off they become Hollows, losing their hearts."

Miyuki nodded.

"That is more or less correct. The holes you see in Hollows are the symbol of our lost hearts, and some believe, our souls," Miyuki said, startling Ichigo as he stared at her. He'd never seen Miyuki quite so serious and grim before.

"I don't personally believe the latter, even Hollows have souls, if we didn't then Shinigami wouldn't be able to purify Hollows and send them to Soul Society, they'd simply be destroyed."

"Purified?" Ichigo muttered, understanding. "The souls of the Hollows are sent to Soul Society after their killed, then?"

Rukia and Miyuki both nodded.

"Along with any souls they've consumed and became part of the fold," Rukia said, sneaking a look at Miyuki who caught the look, and glared slightly. Ichigo missed this exchange.

So sue her for having to eat, at least she chose to eat other Hollows. Besides, she held a Zanpakutō, and since hers held a spirit, much like a Shinigami, any souls from the Hollows she ate were purified over time, while she kept the nourishment that came from eating.

Rukia could live without knowing that yet though, she wasn't in the mood to share the information.

"We should go," Rukia said, shaking her head. "The longer we wait here who knows what that Hollow is doing."

Ichigo nodded grimly.

"Right, but... that Hollow, I saw it's face, and it was Orihime's dead brother," he said, looking at the two girls who gasped in shock.

"We need to go, now," Miyuki said, grabbing the sleeve of Ichigo's Shihakushō and dragging him out the window, Rukia coming right behind them.

**,**

**,**

**,**

Yuki cursed herself for letting her guard down as she sat up, looking over to where Ichigo was staring at the Hollow in shock.

She felt a deep sadness as she remembered the story of Orihime's brother. It was truly sad when a good soul was forced to Hollowfy, and it was obvious by the fact he was currently fighting the Hollowfication, that it wasn't simply his soul having lingered too long that had him become a Hollow.

"Wait, don't Sora..." Ichigo trailed off, only to be stopped by Miyuki speaking up as she began walking over to help Rukia with Orihime and Tatsuki.

"No, Ichigo," she said, and looked at Sora with sad eyes, and Ichigo was sure he saw the glazed over with a sheen of tears, something unusual for Miyuki. "He'd be better off moving on, when it comes to Hollows there are the lucky ones and the not so lucky ones. There is no saying he would be able to retain his conscience and mind... most do not. I wish there was another way, but it is clear Sora-san does not wish to continue on as a Hollow."

Ichigo swallowed the lump that had formed in his throat with all the emotions saturated in the air, and looked back to Sora who held the sword ready to purify himself. The Hollow nodded.

"You're friend is right," Sora said. "I didn't become this by my own choice and I don't want to live as one either. The pain, the hollow feeling is too much for me to bare. I proved this to myself by nearly killing my precious little sister."

Ichigo looked down, but nodded in understanding. He'd feel the same way if his and Sora's rolls were reversed.

Sora closed his eyes, and moved to impale himself, when Orihime spoke up, stopping the Hollow.

"Wait, please... I need to say something," Orihime gasped out, looking over at her brother with tearful eyes.

Rukia stood crouched at her side, tending to her wound, and Miyuki had reached where Tatsuki was not far from her, and was making sure she was alright.

"This hairpin... do you remember the argument we had about it, the day you gave it to me, Aniki? I said I didn't like it because I thought it didn't look grown-up enough for me. I know I hurt your feelings; and you left without saying anything else. And that was the last time I saw you alive." Orihime choked on a sob as tears fell, but she tried to smile slightly as she continued, finding the strength to sit up. "So now I want to say what I should have said to you when you went off to work that day. Bye big brother... have a good day."

Sora smiled.

"Thank you, Orihime, and goodbye. One day we may see each other again, Imouto."

They all watched as Sora ran the Zanpakutō in his hands through himself, and he dissolved in blue particles, and Orihime broke down into sobs, Rukia doing her best to comfort the girl. Even Miyuki had a hand on the usually bright spirited girls shoulder in support.

It had been a long time since she'd had to comfort anyone, though, so she was unsure if she was any help at all. Standing up, Miyuki removed her hand from Orihime's shoulder and moved to Ichigo's side. He had gone to retrieve his Zanpakutō.

"Hey, you alright?" Miyuki asked, and Ichigo looked at the spot Sora had once been.

"I should be asking you," he said, looking at her. "That was a pretty nasty hit you got earlier"

Miyuki waved it off, rubbing the back of her head where it had collided with one of the walls of Orihime's home.

"It's nothing, he just caught me off guard," she said. "I'm a lot tougher than I look."

Ichigo nodded, for some reason not doubting that.

"Let's go, I'm sure Rukia has a plan as to what to do about Orihime and Tatsuki," Ichigo said, sheathing his sword on his back and turned to see Rukia using some device on the two girls – Orihime returned to her body.

Miyuki lingered behind as Ichigo asked Rukia what she had done to them, and thought of how things were really changing. She couldn't help but wonder how bad Ichigo's luck would get before it was over.

**.**

**.**

**.**

She left early, around six, and was careful not to wake Ichigo who actually slept rather lightly at times.

She also didn't want to disturb Rukia, or the others in the house. Not that it was likely. As she darted across the town, yawning as she went she thought of how Ichigo would react to her surprise.

It had been a long time since she'd done anything like this, but it would be worth it If only to not be so bored, and to see the look on Ichigo's face when he saw her. If he recognized her, that is. Smirking, Miyuki came out of her thoughts as she stopped her run at a familiar shop.

On the sign she could easily read; **Urahara Shōten**.

Outside the shop, seemingly watching the sunrise, was a tall man in brown and green, wearing a white and green hat that covered pale blonde hair. His eyes were hard to make out, but she knew they were gray. In his hand he twirled a cane, smiling in her direction now.

"Kisuke, long time no see," Miyuki said, walking forward.

Urahara Kisuke, nodded before his smile widened slightly. "Yuki-hime, long time indeed."

Miyuki twitched at the nickname, an annoyance in her opinion, but she'd gotten used to it.

"Still the same," she muttered, shaking her head. "So, do you have it ready?"

Urahara nodded.

"I believe so, come in," he said, and the redhead followed him inside the shop, the door shutting behind them.


	4. Chaos Ensues Part I

**.**

**.**

**.**

**Broken Hearts.**

**Chapter 4: Chaos Ensues Part I. **

**_Forty-Six Years Ago; November 1955:_**

"_Misao, come back! You'll be late as it is!" _

_A girl with gingery-orange hair, that flew behind her as she ran from the Kurosaki estate, smirked. Her family wasn't as stuck up as the Ishida's, another Quincy clan, but her grandparents and father were rather strict, and traditional. _

_When she could escape, she took every opportunity. Her gray-blue eyes sparkled as she burst into the clearing, a medium sized pond in front of her. Sometimes her mother brought her there to train, and it would be a good two hours before they thought to check for her there. _

"_They'll never catch me," she said, smirking mischievously as she approached the pond. _

_Looking into the reflective water, Misao gasped, turned and in speed that would have made her family proud, had her bow out, ready to fire at the girl in the tree. Long red hair, like crimson flowers, or dark blood, pale skin with whisker birthmarks on her cheek, and her eyes were closed. _

_What had caused her reaction though was the Hollow mask fragment. She was confused, was the girl sleeping or meditating? For that matter, was the girl, only a few years older than her older sister, even a Hollow? _

_She hesitated to release the arrow, and quicker than she could see the Hollow disappeared, before reappearing about a foot to her side. Getting a better look at the fox-like mask she withheld a shiver. It truly was creepy, especially as the girl was smiling slightly. She had a bored sort of warmth in her bright, almost glowing, azure eyes, which were very fox-like. _

_The girl reminded her of a Kitsune. _

"_It's not nice to aim weapons at strangers," the redhead said._

_Misao couldn't help but let her bow disappear and look embarrassed, her face turning bright red. She momentarily forgot that the girl before her was most likely a Hollow. _

"_Uh, I..." Misao stuttered before narrowing her eyes and straightening up. "What do you mean, you're a Hollow aren't you? Do you expect me to let you eat me, or somethin'?" _

_The blue eyed girl looked amused as Misao fumed, hands on her hips. She noticed the girl was taller than her, but not by much. She was 4'7 ½ and still growing, while the Hollow girl couldn't be much more than 5 feet. Probably around sixteen or seventeen she estimated with the curves the girl had. Misao herself was only ten. _

"_I try not to eat things that would give me indigestion or heart burn," she said, and Misao felt her jaw drop. _

_Did the girl just make a joke? Did she just imply that she wasn't worth eating? That's she'd make her sick if she did...Misao knew it wasn't logical but being told by a Hollow that they wouldn't bother eating them because of something so human, such as indigestion or heart burn, was offensive. _

"_WHAT'S THAT SUPPOSED TO MEAN!?" _

_Then the redhead smiled, and seconds later she burst into fits of laughter. Misao blinked, and stared at the girl in white who was now practically on her knees as she laughed, eyes tearing up. _

"_Haha, you're okay kid... hahaha," slowly the redhead got back to her feet, calming from her laughing fit. "I haven't laughed that much in decades. Usually people don't react like this, but maybe it's just you. So, what's your name, Little Quincy?" _

_Blinking owlishly, Misao finally answered, "Misao, Kurosaki Misao." _

_The redhead smiled in a fox-like manner. _

"_I'm Miyuki, Uzumaki Miyuki."_

**_._**

**_._**

**_._**

"Alright class, before we begin today I have an announcement." she began, standing behind her desk. "We have a new student joining us today."

Ichigo glanced up at Ms. Ochi, wondering exactly who would have enrolled so late. Rukia had been the last new student, only a few days prior, another one so soon sounded kind of far fetched. Looking up once more when the door opened and soft footsteps could be heard, Ichigo's eyes widened at the sight before him.

It was...well he thought it was Miyuki. She was different though, she looked completely human, and at first he didn't recognize her. It was only through the whisker-like marks, thinner as they were, and the blue eyes – even if they lacked the slit pupils – that he had any idea it was Miyuki.

He found himself second guessing though, she looked so different. Her hair was the same red, but it wasn't up in it's usual pigtails. He'd seen her wear her hair down before, but it also looked shorter than usual.

Usually it almost brushed the ground when down, now it was as long as her calf's, and half pulled up with a white cord. It was easier to see it wasn't only messy, but lightly waved as it trailed down her back.

Her face was no longer hiden by her mask fragment, and she didn't wear the white cheongsam nor did she wear the standard girls uniform. She wore a dark red (some could say maroon) seifuku, albeit the skirt was longer in length than he'd seen. She still wore the same brown leather boots she always wore, though.

"Hello, my name is Uzumaki Miyuki," she said, smiling with a polite short bow before turning to the teacher. "I apologize, sensei, for not having the standard uniform. They are out of my size so it's being ordered, and shall arrive in a few days."

"It's alright, I understand," said Ms. Ochi. "You may sit in the free seat behind Orihime..Inoue Orihime please raise your hand."

Ichigo kept staring as Miyuki walked past him to where Orihime sat two seats over. He didn't miss the amused smirk she sent his way, and he remembered the conversation they'd had last night before saving Orihime from her hollowfied brother.

Was that a gigai?

******.**

******.**

******.**

"_Well, here you are Yuki-hime," Urahara said as he pointed out the gigai laying in storage. "Same as you left it." _

_Miyuki rolled her eyes, looking at the gigai and noticing the change of clothes. Turning to looked at Kisuke she narrowed her eyes. _

"_You didn't change the clothes did you, Kisuke?" _

_Urahara blinked, his fan out and covering his face as he took a step back. He'd learned that Miyuki using that tone of voice was never a good omen. _

"_Of course not, Miyuki, I had __Ururu __do it," he said, and Miyuki accepted this. _

_It may seem strange to someone else that a little girl, looking no older than ten or eleven, was able to lift a gigai in order to change it's clothes. But Miyuki knew Ururu was stronger than she looked, and very capable. _

"_Thank you, Kisuke," she said, "I owe you one." _

_With that said, Miyuki stepped into the gigai, which after a second responded, bright blue eyes opening. Miyuki got to her feet, and groaned at the cramps from having not used a gigai for over a decade. She usually wouldn't need a gigai to make herself seen, just focusing her chakra and Reiryoku into an even mix could make her corporal to humans, but it wouldn't do much good with the mask fragment making her less than human. _

_Not to mention it took control – which she did have – but she could only keep it going constantly for three days before she had to take a break and begin again. A gigai was simply more convenient, and looked more human. _

"_So, how's Kurosaki doing?" Urahara asked, following her out to the front of the store. "I felt him awaken with the help of Ms. Kuchiki the other night." _

_Miyuki frowned momentarily. "He's doing well, I don't think we'll have to worry all that much about him. Though...I have a feeling things are about to get complicated. I know enough about Soul Society to know there is a law against giving ones powers to a human." _

_He nodded. _

"_I guess we'll just have to wait and see." _

Miyuki frowned slightly as she reached her seat, sitting down behind the burnt orange haired girl. She couldn't shake the feeling that Urahara had known something he wasn't telling her. She wouldn't be surprised, the man had more secrets than he did those stupid fans he used to cover his face to hide the expressions.

She remembered the first year she'd known Urahara she'd broken so many of those fan's she thought he'd begin to cry each time she broke one. Usually she ended up breaking them over his head when she used them to hit him.

As she listened to Ms. Ochi begin the lesson, she couldn't help but sneak a look at Ichigo and smirk. She had been right, the look on his face when he'd seen her was priceless.

******.**

******.**

******.**

"So this was the surprise, a gigai?" Rukia asked as they stood on the roof for lunch.

Miyuki looked at Rukia strangely before she smirked mischievously.

"Ah, so you were listening in last night," Miyuki said, eyes being shadowed by her bangs as she looked down the few inches height difference between them at Rukia. "I thought I felt your reiatsu."

Ichigo twitched, rolling his eyes as he looked away from the two girls. One of which was trying to deny the accusation terribly. Finally Rukia gave up trying to deny it and sighed, messing with the juice box in her hands.

"So I was, I know I shouldn't have but I was still weary of you then," Rukia said, looking at the juice in her hands with concentration. "I'm sorry, now...could one of you tell me how exactly I am supposed to drink this?"

Miyuki snorted, snatched the juice box from the shorter black haired girl. "It's simple really, just poke the straw through the hole, and...drink." She handed the now open box back to Rukia who blinked.

"Strange," Rukia muttered, placing the straw in her mouth and drinking. She was pleasantly surprised by how good it tasted. Like fruit, but sweet at the same time.

"Good huh? That's why I enjoy the human world so much, we don't have such things in Hueco Mundo, and Hollows taste like pulverized crap."

Rukia and Ichigo both made a face at that, the mere imagery making them both shiver. They really didn't need to know how a Hollow tasted.

"To much information, Yuki, way to much," Ichigo said, shaking his head.

She chuckled, and then froze, looking towards the sky about fifteen feet to the west of them. It only took a few seconds for Rukia and Ichigo to do the same. For a moment she was concerned, but once the Garganta had opened and the figure stepped out, giving her a better feel of their spiritual signature, and the fact she could feel their chakra as well (which only a few people, including herself, still possessed the ability to use), she relaxed.

"A Hollow...here?" Ichigo began, surprised one appeared so close to the school.

Miyuki placed a hand on his chest, stopping his movement, and halting Rukia's words with a simple look.

"Don't worry, it's a friend," she said, and both looked at her with wide eyes, and Miyuki dropped her hand from his chest. "Hello Gaara...what brings you to the human world?"

Neither Ichigo or Rukia had noticed the Hollow had appeared on the roof with them, about a foot away, but close enough that they could get a good look at him. He wasn't but a few inches taller than Miyuki, about 5'6 or 5'7. he had pale skin, and wore strange clothes in black and maroon, with a gourd shaped sort of like a peanut on his back.

On one side of his face was a mask fragment, which was similar to Miyuki's but wasn't of a fox. It was more canine or feline like, and covered less of his face than Miyuki's fragment. It also had black swirl like markings on it, instead of being plain. He had strange, pupil-less sea foam colored eyes, messy red hair, similar to Miyuki's, and around his eyes were black rings, like a raccoon.

Actually, with his mask fragment it was easy to liken him to a Tanuki.

Rukia herself thought his stoic expression resembled her brother, but at the same time was completely different, and this man and Byakuya-niisama looked nothing alike. All things considered, Ichigo and Rukia wondered if the Arrancar was related to Miyuki, they did look similar enough.

"Yuki," Gaara greeted and looked to the two his old friend was keeping company with. He rose an eyebrow at the taller boy with shocking orange hair and felt his lips twitch up into a small smile. "Orange...only you would find a person with Orange hair to become close too. I am not surprised."

Miyuki snorted, while Ichigo twitched in annoyance, frown deepening.

"What's that supposed to mean?" he snapped, and Gaara shook his head.

"Nothing."

Miyuki coughed, and after gaining their attention she explained, "Gaara was simply pointing out how I used to wear a lot of orange. Now days I've cut down on how much orange I wear, but when I was still human I could blind the enemy with how much orange I wore."

Ichigo sweat-dropped at this, but wasn't all that surprised. He'd seen her go crazy over orange things, and he knew her favorite time of the year was autumn when orange was a common color. She'd also always been one to help him when he was younger and bullied for his hair, she'd never had a bad thing to say about the color. She'd always praised it.

Rukia's reaction was more subtle, she blinked in shock, but was not necessarily disappointed at something else she had learned concerning the mystery that was Miyuki.

"Who is he?" Rukia finally asked, gesturing towards the redheaded man, he appeared older than Miyuki physically, maybe twenty at the most.

_'Not bad to look at either'_, she had to admit, and that itself was a jolt to her system, she'd never thought she'd find a Hollow of all things the least bit attractive.

"I'm Sabaku no Gaara, an old friend of Miyuki's."

Both blinked at the strange surname, but shrugged it off. It wasn't like there were many with the name Uzumaki in the world, actually Miyuki was the only one Ichigo had ever heard bearing the name.

"I'm Kurosaki Ichigo."

"Kuchiki Rukia," Rukia said, nodding in greeting.

She wisely didn't say much more, but in all honesty she didn't know what to say. In the last few days all her views on Hollows were being thrown out the window. She didn't trust herself to not say the wrong thing, and end up offending Gaara or Miyuki in the process. She couldn't outright trust either of them, she hardly knew either, but she was trying at least.

"Miyuki has spoken of you Kurosaki-san, though she's never mentioned a Shinigami..."

Miyuki interrupted, laughing nervously, "Yeah, Rukia is a new acquaintance of mine. There was an incident a few nights ago, and she ended up giving her powers to Ichigo."

Gaara nodded.

"I take it you'll be spending a lot more time here than, if the gigai is anything to go by," Gaara stated more than asked, and he continued, "Anyways, I come with news. Yagura found some information around his territory. Seems the Arrancar population has begun to go up as drastically as rumored. It's centered in a place nearly in the center of Hueco Mundo, called Las Noches."

Gaara had said this second part in the language they'd spoken when alive, which was simply a much older form of Japanese.

"Lost Nachos?" she asked, blinking. "Someone lost their nachos, in Hueco Mundo?"

Gaara sweat-dropped, sighing before he corrected her.

"_Las Noches_, it's Spanish as most Hollow abilities and such seem to be," he said.

Ichigo looked at Rukia, eyebrows knitted together at the few words they actually understood from the two. Apparently three thousand years had changed the Japanese language more than he'd given thought.

"Lost Nachos? They're discussing food?" he whispered in question and Rukia shrugged, just as puzzled as him.

"No idea," the raven haired girl replied.

Rukia was too busy trying to dissect exactly how old Miyuki may be to speak such an old, yet surprisingly similar, form of Japanese. The estimate, at least six hundred years, because she honestly couldn't pin point how old the language was. She'd say just by hearing it that it had to be one of the older forms.

Since it was so similar, and they could understand a few words, she assumed it had to be relatively close to modern Japanese. Hence why she chose the number she did (she had no idea how off she was by her estimated age).

Currently though, she knew her estimate was simply an educated guess. Unless she got Miyuki to open up about her past she'd not know much of anything. That didn't mean Rukia would be so underhanded as to pretend to befriend the Arrancar to get information, she may be curious – very curious – about Miyuki and by extension, Gaara's, past but she wasn't so cruel.

The only thing stopping her from truly trying to befriend Miyuki was the fact she had yet to come to terms with the fact the redhead was a Hollow, despite the fact she had Shinigami-like powers.

Over a century of being taught that Hollows were evil spirits that needed to be purified was hard to get past. She'd need more than a few days.

Miyuki sighed as she took in the news Gaara had given her, and she felt herself growing angry at the idea that someone had claimed territory that he had no rights too.

Especially if Yagura was right and it was a Shinigami that had created the palace of Las Noches.

When the eleven of them had chosen territories, eight of the new Bijū had chosen areas relatively close if one was to plot their territories on a map (given the fact maps didn't exactly show the exact size of an area, just general location in most cases). These areas were North, south, east and areas in between. While she and the two Uchiha's had settled into the east, northeast, and southeast areas respectively.

Though she hadn't intended it in the beginning, her territory ended up being the largest. When it came to the eleven of them, who were very close comrades and friends, they weren't as territorial, and they were all welcome in each others territories.

Back in the old days though, when Hollows knew they were more than a legend or myth, anyone who resided in their territory knew the rules. Those who tried to usurp them or trespass were dealt with, especially when it came to the nine of the former jinchūriki.

When their tenants chakra had merged with them, making them the new Bijū, the instincts and some slight personality traits had merged with them as well. Added to the fact they were Hollows... well the instincts were harder to control in the beginning. Now it was second nature to know how to control themselves.

The point of the matter, though, was that Las Noches had taken chunks of both her, Fū and Killer B's territories, more so her two friends than her own, but it still didn't make any of them happy. For now they'd let it go, as at least they knew exactly where their enemy was – and considering Las Noches and its occupants were unknowns they were automatically enemies in their eyes – and whoever had it built unwittingly placed it in such a way it was surrounded by their territories.

It put a whole new spin on the saying, _surrounded by the enemy_.

"I see," Miyuki finally said, reverting back to modern Japanese completely. "Thank you for the update, Gaara, I don't know when I would have been able to return to Hueco Mundo."

"We thought as much, if something hadn't of happened then you would have returned to let us know," he said, and then looked over towards the orange haired boy and smaller girl. "I must return, and let everyone know what's going on here."

Miyuki nodded.

"Right, before you go though, will you think about helping to train Ichigo," she began, ignoring the startled gasp from Rukia and she was sure Ichigo's eyes were wide behind her. "Ask Karasu and Taka for me as well. I plan to train him so he can be prepared, but my style may not be the best option for him."

Gaara raised an eyebrow at the use of Itachi and Sasuke's nicknames, and the names known to legend in Hueco Mundo, before nodding.

"I will," he said. "Be careful sister."

Miyuki waved as she watched the other redhead slash the air, opening a Garganta and leaving through it. She pushed her loose hair behind her ear and sighed.

She hadn't expected to see one of them here, but with the news Yagura had found she wasn't surprised they'd sent Gaara.

"Sister, he's your brother then?" Ichigo asked, confused, and Miyuki shook her head, smiling brightly over at the orangette.

"No, not by blood anyways. We were close friends and comrades in life, the same age, though he died many years after I," she said. "We did get that a lot though, both having similar hair colors."

"There are more of you, you mention Karasu and Taka?" Rukia asked, biting the inside of her cheek unsure if maybe asking about it was asking too much too soon.

Miyuki simply looked at her amused.

"There are eleven of us, the oldest Hollows or Arrancar still around. I'm not surprised our legend isn't well known in Seireitei, or at all. We were given the title of Kyo sekai no Kamigami, or 'Deities of the Hollow World'. Each with a name we chose to be called by other Hollows, as our given names were something more personal that we didn't desire to give to just anyone. After a while we fell into the background, as we never truly wanted such a title nor to get involved with other Hollows business. Then we simply faded into legend, into myth. Few realize we're still around. Karasu and Taka are very old friends of mine, I've known them the longest, since I was a human child in our village; unlike the others, they're blood brothers."

Rukia and Ichigo were both surprised she'd shared so much, but Ichigo at least had an idea of why she had. Miyuki didn't dislike Rukia, and she had asked. He figured Miyuki planned to tell them her past at some point, she simply wasn't ready to sit down and reveal it all.

Rukia was staring bug eyed at the crimson haired Arrancar. Her words sinking in, _'...the oldest Hollows or Arrancar still around'_, she'd said. For that to be possible...Rukia was sure now the girl had to be near the same age as the Sōtaichō of the Gotei 13.

She couldn't be for sure unless Miyuki came out and told them how old she was, but there was no other explanation. Hollows had been around for thousands of years after all, though how old a Hollow was before they ran into a Shinigami wasn't common knowledge. They didn't go around asking every Hollow they killed how old they were.

The very idea of Miyuki being near the age of the most powerful man in Soul Society was frightening. Miyuki seemed to either not notice their strange looks, or not care as she moved on.

"You'll probably meet them in the future, if they decide to help me out with Ichigo's training."

"Training?" Ichigo asked and Miyuki smirked.

"I figure you could use a little help. Not to insult Rukia or anything, but we can't expect you to learn completely through battle experience. That's just asking for you to get hurt once you run into something that has more power than the common Hollow."

Rukia looked down, a bit guilty she hadn't thought about that. Even Shinigami were trained before set loose on missions, it was the reason for the Academy after all. She was glad that Miyuki had thought of it though.

"She's right," she muttered and Ichigo nodded.

"Alright," he said, and seconds later the bell signaling the end of lunch sounded.

"Come on, we don't want to be late," Miyuki said, and the three left the roof for their next class.


End file.
